From Publishers Weekly
Shepard's pristine ink illustrations adorn this 1938 edition of Grahame's story. Ages 8-11. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-This now-classic tale was originally published in 1898 as part of Kenneth Grahame's semiautobiographical short story collection, "Dream Days." A shepherd discovers a dragon living in a cave. His son knows from his reading of natural history and fairy tales that some dragons are reasonable and nonthreatening. He approaches the creature, who proves to be a gentle, noncombative sort. The villagers, however, see him as a menace, and St. George is sent for. The boy is able to convince him that this is a good dragon, and the three devise a plan that will give everyone a fine show and allow the dragon to stay on in the village, writing poetry and singing. San Souci's abridgment has the usual gains and losses of such a process. Much of Grahame's wit and unique style have gone by the wayside, but the text is more accessible to a modern audience. The message of compassion, loyalty, and friendship still shines through. Segal's pastel illustrations, frequently set in miniature boxes in a vertical line, sometimes ignore descriptions as provided by the text. The dragon has "blue scales on top and green below." Segal's dragon is green on top, yellow below and without a scale to be seen. The pictures are captioned with an odd mix of print and script that will be difficult for children to decipher. Libraries owning the original text with illustrations by either Ernest H. Shepard or Michael Hague may consider this version an additional purchase.Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
PreS-Gr. 2. Moore, who has illustrated several Grahame stories from The Wind in the Willows, offers an abridged edition of this perennially favorite tale about a pacifist dragon who, with the help of a young boy, strikes a bargain with St. George and dispels a few stereotypes. Moore's editing is skillful; her version stays relatively faithful to Grahame's original, with the exception of a few omissions, shortened paragraphs, and slightly retooled phrasing. The result is a lovely, accessible offering that retains the humor and rich language of the original, and Moore's lavish, full-spread illustrations delightfully extend the action. You may already have a few versions of this on your shelves, but consider this for the impressive, handsome full-color art, particularly the irresistible images of the poetry-loving dragon, "ramping" about gleefully in a faux duel and reading aloud to the wise child who befriends him. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Publishers Weekly, April 12,2004
San Souci's fluid storytelling gives the story a modern feel, and Jack's peaceful problem solving sets a winning example.

ANNOTATION

The boy who finds the dragon in the cave knows it is a kindly, harmless one, but how can he convince the frightened villagers and, especially, St. George the dragon killer that there is no cause for concern?

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When Jack's father discovers a fire-breathing dragon living close to home, Jack tells everyone not to worry -- he has read a lot about dragons. The next day, Jack meets the dragon and learns that he is a poet who would rather write than fight knights and breathe fire. Soon Jack and the dragon are sharing poetry and singing songs, but Jack can't keep him a secret for long. One day, Saint George rides into town to slay the beast, but the dragon refuses to take part in something so uncivilized. So with the help of Jack, they agree to stage a mock battle, which pleases everyone involved.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Shepard's pristine ink illustrations adorn this 1938 edition of Grahame's story. Ages 8-11. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

For this elegantly designed volume, San Souci (The Talking Eggs) breathes new life into the sword-and-scales genre with a snappy adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's 1898 short story. The book stars a most unusual dragon who prefers poetry, pacifism and singalongs to murderous pillaging and destruction ("I'm too lazy to make enemies"). Jack, a shepherd's son, befriends the dragon, but his fellow villagers see the fiery beast as "an enemy of the human race" and call in Saint George. Smart-thinking Jack convinces George to talk to his friend, and together they concoct a scheme to stage a battle so the dragon can be saved. The faux fight is deliciously scary ("The dragon, enjoying the drama, reared and roared and rampaged"), but young fantasy fans will enjoy both the ruse and the happily-ever-after resolution. Matching the text's dynamism, Segal's (The Musicians of Bremen) illustrations seem a happy cross between medieval manuscripts and comic book panels. Narrow rules frame each page, accentuating the oversize vertical format, while Segal's small, cartoon-like illustrations captioned with phrases from the text float in a sizable white background. The less-is-more sensibility of the design offsets the somewhat insistent message about looking beyond appearances and overcoming prejudice. San Souci's fluid storytelling gives the story a modern feel, and Jack's peaceful problem-solving sets a winning example. Ages 5-9. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D.

Grahame's classic tale of trust and friendship is lovingly retold in this beautifully formatted book. Large pages with widely spaced text and miniature paintings leave plenty of white space for readers' imaginations to wander and create their own meanings as the story unfolds. Jack and his family befriend a dragon that lives nearby. When the local townspeople call for Saint George to kill what they perceive to be a dangerous beast, Jack talks to the saintly man first and a compromise is arranged. All ends happily. A good book for reading with individual children or small groups. The tiny pictures are beautifully detailed and need to be enjoyed at close range. 2004, Orchard Books/Scholastic, Ages 5 to 9.

School Library Journal

ea. vol: unpaged. CIP. Troll. 1987. PLB 9.79; pap. $1.95. Gr 1-2 These versions of two classics are ephemeral in every way. The Reluctant Dragon is paraphrased and shortened to the point of being a plot summary (``The boy was happy because he got to see a good fight and no one was hurt. And the dragon was happy because he had made a lot of new friends''), accompanied by bland, cute illustrations that sometimes resemble Shepard's in subject or composi tion but never in imagination. The text of The Velveteen Rabbit is more nearly in tact, but once again the illustrations carry little personality, lacking either the energy of Nicholson's (Doubleday, 1958) or the romanticism of Michael Hague's (Holt, 1983). Steer readers to the originals. John Peters, New York Public Library

School Library Journal